This invention relates to a process for the production of potatoes cooked in water or steam and deep-frozen.
It is known that, unlike fried potatoes, potatoes cooked in water or steam do not lend themselves to deep-freezing. Irrespective of the variety of potato used, the deep-frozen product has a floury, soft and grainy, texture and shows surface exfoliation after reheating for consumption.
Thus, attempts to cook potatoes in water or steam and then to cool them, optionally in cold water, and finally to deep-freeze them by the conventional IQF (individual quick freezing) method, i.e., by circulation of air at -40.degree. C. to obtain complete deep-freezing in a few minutes, have never provided a satisfactory product.
Now, it could be of advantage, particularly in the field of deep-frozen cooked dishes, to provide cooked potatoes which retain a texture comparable with that of an identical product which has not been deep-frozen.
French Patent Application No. FR-A-2 392 609, for example, describes a process for cooking potatoes in several stages followed by heating of the cooked product in air. According to this document, the product cooked by this process may then be deep-frozen and subsequently reheated for consumption with no deterioration in its texture.
The main disadvantage of this process is that it is difficult to carry out on an industrial scale. In addition, experience has shown that multistage cooking processes have a tendency to produce unpleasant tastes. This explains why, to applicant's knowledge, good quality cooked and deep-frozen potatoes have not yet been available on the market.